Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume6 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 4===

Walking along the riverbank, Kamito found a towering cliff.

This was where Claire and the others had battled the Knights of the Dragon Emperor. The cliff was still littered with the destruction caused by the fight against the dragon spirit.

"...To think an outdoor bath that could not have been easy to construct, would be virtually destroyed."

Muttering, he walked towards the edge of the cliff at the same time--

"Hah! Fu--!"

Accompanied by vigorous shouts, the sound of slicing wind could be heard.

Peering out from the side of the cliff, he found a girl swinging a sword, her hair in a ponytail.

Her body was clad in light armor. Her dark-brown eyes were stern.

This was the Captain of the Sylphid Knights -- Ellis Fahrengart.

"Yah, hah--!"

She swung her sword with forceful motions, producing sounds of sharp slicing wind.

Rather than sword training, this was a ritual blade dance performed as an offering to spirits inhabiting the river.

Her graceful and spectacular blade dance caused Kamito to watch in awe.

The profile of her stern face seemed especially beautiful.

Soon after, Ellis re-sheathed her sword by her waist and took a deep bow towards the river.

From the water surface appeared faint light as water spirits gathered to dance.

Apparently the spirits were pleased with Ellis' blade dance.

As Ellis wiped her sweat in relief, Kamito greeted her.

"Hi, Ellis."

"K-Kamito... You saw it!?"

Ellis turned around, her dark-brown eyes opening wide.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to peep..."

Kamito scratched his head and walked towards Ellis.

"Ellis, your blade dance was really beautiful."

"...!? I-I... Beautiful!?"

"No, I'm talking about your blade dance, Ellis... But anyway, you're quite beautiful too."

Ellis instantly blushed.

"Y-You, what insolence! Prepare to die, I'll make you into onion gratin!"

Swiftly drawing her sword, she stabbed the point of the blade towards Kamito's neck.

"What the heck, getting angry so suddenly!"

"C-Calling me beautiful, surely that cannot be what you seriously think...!"

"No, I simply blurted out what's on my mind..."

"Oooh..."

Blushing more intensely, the Captain stuttered as if she was at a loss.

"Y-You, why did you come here?! ...Could it be, to peep!?"

"Idiot, why would anyone do that!?"

Kamito frantically denied--

"Hmph, that I know... After all, there is nothing worth seeing even if I were taking a bath in the water!"

Ellis suddenly turned her gaze away as if she was sulking.

As a normal healthy male, of course the thought had crossed his mind before... But if he were to say this out loud, she would surely slice him in earnest, so it would be best to keep quiet for now.

"I was just about to start the morning purification rite and training. What perfect timing for you to be here, Ellis, would you like to perform morning practice with me? We haven't trained together for quite a while."

"Hmm... Morning practice? Sure."

Sheathing her sword, Ellis coughed lightly.

Back at the Academy, Kamito would occasionally spar with Ellis for morning practice. Although she also had Sylphid Knights meetings early in the morning, it was a perfect way to release the tension in her body before class.

"But are your injuries okay?"

"Yeah, so I'd like to get some exercise... But please have mercy."

"Acknowledged."

The two distanced themselves and drew their swords.

Ellis used a long sword while Kamito used the short sword he kept for defense. Though they were both using weapons that were different from their actual elemental waffen, this was fine for the purposes of physical training.

Readying her sword stance, Ellis watched Kamito silently.

"Come, Ellis--"

Just as Kamito spoke, in that instant--

"Hah--!"

With a vigorous shout, Ellis charged.

Despite treading over uneven riverside terrain, she still made a series of aggressive slashes. The name of the Sylphid Knights' Captain truly was not just for show.

Kamito blocked the sharp sword with his short sword. The blades clashed violently many times.

Sparks flew. High pitched metallic noises resounded.

This was a spectacular blade dance performed with perfect synchronicity.

However, a displeased expression appeared on Ellis' face--

"Kamito, stop trying to accommodate me. If you are just playing around, I will not be pleased."

"You have a point... But Ellis, different from my swordsmanship that was trained at the Instructional School, yours is the orthodox style of the knightly sword, right? If you try to accommodate me, you might pick up bad habits."

"No matter. My sword style is too rigid. After last night's blade dance, that was what I realized greatly. Hence, I hope you can teach me your sword skills. In order to obtain victory in this Blade Dance festival!"

"...!"

Ellis swung her sword in a heavy downward strike. Kamito blocked as his eyes widened in surprise.

This was an attack which manifested the power of Ellis' resolve to get stronger.

"...If that's the case, I understand."

Her well-practiced sword style was indeed rather easy to predict.

It was probably okay to teach her some of those so-called unorthodox sword skills.

Kicking the ground to leap backwards for some distance, Kamito switched his short sword to a reverse grip. Ellis held her sword horizontally and made a courageous charge -- this was based on her highly accomplished spear skills.

In that instant, Kamito suddenly lowered his stance and made a light sweeping kick.

"Ah!"

Ellis' eyes widened in surprise. Though she did not fall over, Kamito took advantage of her momentary loss of balance to grab her arm and shove her back against the ground.

Then swiftly he immobilized her legs. Though Ellis struggled desperately, it was impossible for her to escape due to the restraining of her joints.

"Guh... H-How underhanded, Kamito!"

"Even if the enemy is wielding a sword, it doesn't mean they will always fight with a sword. I suppose it's fine if you're facing a noble-minded knight, but there exist elementalists who fight this way."

"Y-You may have a point..."

Ellis grumbled with a reluctant expression--

Then suddenly her face went red.

"Uh?"

"K-Kamito, this posture..."

"...!?"

Only when pointed out did he notice.

The fact that he was pushing a girl down against the ground, their legs intertwined together.

Plus the fact of Ellis' slightly lifted skirt, clearly exposing her black panties.

"S-Sorry...!"

Kamito frantically tried to stand up, but--

"W-Wait!"

Ellis gripped his wrist tightly.

"L-Let this continue a little while longer, I do not mind..."

"...Uh?"

Maintaining this posture of pushing Ellis down on the ground, Kamito widened his eyes at the sight.

The uniform drenched with sweat. The heaving bosom that quivered with every breath she took.

Diverting the gaze of her slightly moistened dark-brown eyes, Ellis expelled warm breath as she spoke:

"Y-You have to take responsibility..."

Ellis pouted her lips as if sulking.

"Responsibility?"

"The one who changed me from a knight, i-into a woman, is you..."

"Wha, what d-do you mean by that!?"

Just as Kamito stared dumbfounded--

"Incinerate until nothing remains, O scorching conflagration -- Fireball!"

An incantation of spirit magic could be heard -- then immediately, the nearby ground exploded.

Sent flying by the shock of the explosion, Kamito fell into the river.

"W-What the heck!? ...Holy, this is really scalding!"

The river water was boiling as bubbles rose up.

"...Hey, Kamito? Just now, what was happening there?"

Turning his gaze, he found Claire wielding Flametongue, approaching slowly from the shallows.

"All I could see was the sight of you pushing Ellis down on the ground, eh?"

...She was smiling. So terrifying.

Feeling his life was endangered, Kamito frantically tried to escape--

The crisp sound of water changing state could be heard.

"What!?"

Suddenly, he found a massive wall of ice erected before him.

This was Rinslet's specialty, the spirit magic of Ice Wall--

"Oh my, Kamito-san, where do you think you're going?"

Appearing in the opposite direction from Claire was Rinslet.

Smiling calmly, she wielded her elemental waffe, the magic bow.

"R-Rinslet...!"

"Enemies of womankind must be frozen in cold storage -- this is one of the Laurenfrost family's precepts."

"...!?"

Losing his escape route, Kamito rapidly changed directions and ran towards the forest on the opposite shore.

"Hey, stay right there!"

Hearing the sound of freezing arrows fired from behind, Kamito found them whizzing past his back.

At the last second, Kamito jumped into the thicket in the forest--

In that instant, he found his legs entangled by the vines of numerous plants, making him fall flat on his face.

"...These are dryads!?"

"Fufu, Kamito-kun, the spirits earlier have now been trained properly~"

Appearing from the depths of the forest was the great imperial princess smiling impishly.

"Fianna...!"

"Just to deter you from acting naughty towards other girls, Kamito-kun, you need to be taught a lesson too."

While Kamito was immobilized, Claire and Rinslet also gathered around.

"Ha, haha..."

Kamito laughed convulsively.